Nevada Sqweaks By Utah State: Faces Idaho Next In WAC Showdown

It was too close for comfort. Nevada was behind until the 4th quarter and got out of town with a 35-32 win. USU stopped the Wolf Pack ground game in the first half and their QB picked Nevada's secondary apart to take a 21-7 lead.

But then it happened. Ault and his team made adjustments at half-time and the second half was another story. Nevada showed its schizophrenic nature and exploded for 21 unanswered points, leaving 15,000 bewildered USU fans in dismay.

How did they do it? A subtle change in the offensive strategy, Kaepernick's arm and smothering defense by Kevin basped made the difference. Nevada is once again in familiar territory as the nation's # 1 rushing offense with over 288 yards per game. That stat is worth noting because some of those yards were rolled up against Notre Dame and Missouri. But it was Basped with multiple sacks who once again showed why he is a blue chip NFL prospect.

Next week brings Idaho and their 6-1 record to Reno for a WAC showdown. Idahoans are positively giddy over the Vandals new found competence and BSU fans are chagrined that they are not getting all the headlines. It is a must win game for the Wolf Pack and they need to do three things to defeat Idaho:

Unleash Basped and Moch on every play. Their goal needs to be get to Idaho QB Enderle early and often. The secondary needs to stay with the receivers better to prevent the big play. The offense needs to keep them off balance with a good mix of rushing and passing plays. Idaho will most likely adopt the "spy" strategy to keep Kaepernick contained on the keeper so he needs to lure them in and then burn them with his arm early in the game. That will open things up later for him to run. The spin on Kap is that he is not a very good passer and that Nevada is all run-run-run. This is the game for him to remind folks, he is just as dangerous in the air.

The hard truth is, Nevada is still too vulnerable due to inconsistency of execution. Yet there are flashes of greatness when they get it right. When they are firing on all pistons, they can play with anybody.